The Emirates Palace is not the place to run out of suntan lotion. It may be home to 300 fountains, 114 domes, 1,002 Swarovski crystal chandeliers and 6,000sq metres of gold leaf, but dealing with such an ordinary issue in such a luxurious environment may well induce an unwelcome reality check. It is far more appropriate to indulge in a seven-course Persian feast, sip a vintage cognac or take a stroll through the landscaped gardens than attempt to track down a bottle of factor 30.

The Pope, in hospital this week, has shown an ardour to publish his latest pontifications sooner rather than later. The talk of last year's Frankfurt Book Fair, Memory and Identity will be John Paul II's fifth book since his election in 1978. It is not a memoir, though it does include a chapter on the 1981 attempt on his life. Essentially, this is a philosophical enquiry which grew out of the Vienna Institute of Human Sciences: "think tanks" over 15 years on summer weekends at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome. The book is due from Weidenfeld on 9 March.